Better The Devil You Know
by VirendraLione
Summary: Niklaus wanted Hope protected, hidden, safe. Rebekah may just have the means to keep her so, but her hybrid brother is not going to like it and can she really risk angering him again? Multi Chapter fic set after the Season One Finale. Possibly will end up AU depending on where season two goes. Possible Spoilers. Rated T (May Change)
1. Feel Again

**Disclaimer:**_ I do not own the originals or any of the recognisable characters I may use or mention in this here fanfic. I am merely borrowing them for my own amusement. _

**_Niklaus wanted Hope protected, hidden, safe. Rebekah may just have the means to do so, but her hybrid brother is not going to like it and can she really risk angering him again? _**

**_Multi Chapter fic set after the Season One Finale. Possibly will end up AU depending on where season two goes. Possible Spoilers. _**

**Better The Devil You know...  
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**Chapter One: Feel Again**

Rebekah Mikaelson slid the key into the lock of the apartment door with difficulty, bending at the knees and leaning at such an angle it made her back ache. However, if it was a choice between dropping the baby (not to mention the subsequent paraphernalia that came with the child) and getting a crick in her neck, there was really no choice at all.

Eventually, she managed to coax the portal open and stumbled in, kicking the door closed in her wake. The door slammed shut with a little more force than she had intended and the girl in her arms began to stir from her travel induced sleep.

Without a moment's thought, Rebekah found herself dropping the bags to the floor and cradling the infant gently, rocking her back and forth in her arms. For moments, there was nothing but the two of them. There was no plush cream carpet beneath her designer boot heels, no chandelier light fixtures above her head, no gilded mirror and picture frames hanging from the dado rail. She never thought she would hold such a creature; there were a few drawbacks to immortality and she felt one that her brothers had never and would never. Elijah, perhaps, would be able to empathise on some level, but not as deeply. He would never have known the feeling of a life growing inside of him, vampire or not, but for Rebekah, that had been a very real possibility. That was, until life un-ending was forced upon her. It was a fact she had long since comes to terms with and she had become adept at keeping the thought from her mind whenever it threatened. However, she was ashamed to admit that it had been hard to watch Hayley swell with impending motherhood, her rounded belly a reminder of something she would never feel. The jealousy had, of course, transformed into a shared joyous anticipation and she had just begun to imagine how the baby would feel in her arms when Klaus had discovered her treachery and she had had to flee New Orleans.

In truth, she had thought on Hayley and the baby every day since, but she had been more than a little surprised when her hybrid brother had called her up, delivering a cryptic message regarding the miracle bundle of joy.

Rebekah had little or no interest in the circumstances which inspired the desperate phone call, but she accepted the request readily and had driven to meet him, all the while imagining the weight of the child, how she would look, sound, smell and, now that the moment was here, it deserved to be cherished.

Rebekah tore her gaze from the baby at the sound of a door clicking back in place. She tensed, her brow furrowed, mind racing. She was loathe to part from the child, but doubted the effectiveness of any combative action whilst one arm was lost in supporting her.

The vampiress rationalised; the door had only shut due to the change in pressure as she had opened the front door. She had carelessly left it open when she went to see Niklaus and now it was just falling back into place. There was no one sneaking around in her apartment (but God help them if there was).

Rebekah set her brow, left the living room area, turned right and made her way slowly down the hallway to the seldom used kitchen. As she passed a door to her left, she walked through a cloud of warm, damp, mist that was perfumed delicately with the scent of her £97.00 a bottle bath oil. She took a breath, shook her head for being so naïve and closed her free hand around the crystal door knob.

The portal swung open and surrendered a second, larger cloud of floral scented steam. A young woman wrapped in one of Rebekah's plush Egyptian cotton bath sheets was perched on the side of the bath, running thin, graceful fingers through the near boiling water. She did not look up at Rebekah's entrance and instead seemed transfixed by the figures of eight she was drawing with her fingertips.

'I hope you don't mind, but I figured you could do with a house sitter.' The woman offered, moving to turn the tap off. She ran her still dripping fingers through her dark cherry red gamine haircut.

'That's all very well and good, Roux, but I very nearly killed you.'

Rebekah took note of a scoff from the other woman, but made no further response. She waited until Roux turned to her, before allowing a self-satisfied smile to cross her lips.

Roux had turned with raised eyebrows and a sardonic remark upon her tongue, but the expression had fallen to one of surprise and the remark faded into little more than a whimper.

'So that's where you disappeared off to.' Roux breathed finally, standing and crossing the space between her and the vampiress. She held out her arms, 'May I?'

Rebekah surrendered the writhing bundle and all at once missed the warmth of her. She found herself unable to tear her gaze away from the infant, despite the fact that she was sure that Roux meant the child no harm.

'So this is the miracle baby…' Roux uttered.

Rebekah nodded. 'Hope.' She offered.

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><p><strong><em>Sorry, yet another fic. that will probably take ages for me to update, but how could I resist when 'The Originals' is such an epic program. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this. I think Roux is going to be such a fun character to play with.<em>**


	2. Power Play

**Disclaimer:** _Once again; I do not own the originals nor any of the recognisable material or characters I may use or mention in this here fic. I am merely a fan who wishes to emulate a small fraction of the awesomeness of the program._

**_So here's the second chapter of Better The Devil You Know. Hope you enjoy reading it. Thank you to those of you who have added this story to your various FF lists. I love getting the emails telling me that someone at least is reading this. Thank you so much, guys! Really!_**

**_Anyway, I should probably shut up and let you read this now, eh? _**

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><p><span><strong>Chapter Two: Power Play<strong>

Roux entered the living area, fiddling with the belt of the silk dressing gown that was just the last item on the rapidly lengthening list of things she had 'borrowed' from Rebekah for the duration of her stay. She allowed herself a smile as she rounded the large, ornate couch and arranged herself gracefully on it, all the while studying the vampire and her charge on the one opposite.

'You know, it suits you.' Roux piped up after a few moments of silence.

Rebekah's gaze snapped upwards in miscomprehension. Roux gave a shake of her head.

'You would have made a good mother.'

At this latest statement, Rebekah cleared her throat and blinked a few times too quickly.

'Yes…Well…' was the only response she gave, but these small words were enough to prick Roux's stomach with guilt.

'I didn't mean-' she offered, the apology reluctant to manifest completely.

Rebekah took a breath and gave a shake of her head, 'It's Ok. I know what you meant. Thank you.'

The words could have been spat with disgust or sarcasm, but instead they possessed a genuine and heartfelt tone under which the vampiress preened. She was glad of the comment and grateful that someone noticed in her something she would have strived for under normal and less vampiric circumstances.

The silence that fell around them then was only punctuated with Hope's contented gurgling. Roux stood, moved to the pair of floor to ceiling windows to her right, pulled the curtains drawn against the night sky on one, but went to stand thoughtfully by the other.

Rebekah watched her for a few seconds, her brow furrowing.

'What's wrong?'

Roux pivoted slowly, folded her arms, lent against the glass of the window, 'Nothing. I was just wondering what the plan was…' She let her voice trail off, searched for understanding in Rebekah's eyes, but found none. 'Are you going to need my help?'

Rebekah took a breath, 'As much as I appreciate your offer, I am more than capable of looking after her. You don't need to stick around if you don't want to.'

Roux gave something of a condescending laugh, 'I know you're capable. That's not what I meant.' She pushed herself away from the pane, but made no move to draw the curtain across it. She took a few steps towards Rebekah, unfolded her arms.

'Presumably, the baby is public enemy number one in New Orleans or something. Otherwise, why would you have her? My question was, how are you going to make sure she remains hidden from…well…everybody?'

'Klaus said I should find a witch I trust to cast a cloaking spell.' The vampiress offered.

Roux smiled and Rebekah didn't know why.

'You trust _me_, don't you?'

'But you're not a witch.'

'_No_…but I do have access to a particularly rare brand of magic.' Roux then blinked, changing the colour of her eyes in the action.

A chill ran down Rebekah's spine; the action still unnerved her. In Roux's left eye the emerald iris, the white and pupil had been engulfed in a fiery red hue whilst her right had turned a milky silver and seemed to glow slightly. Beneath her eyes the woman wore a smirk, taking pleasure in the vampire's discomfort. Only when Rebekah returned her attention to Hope, who was now emitting a series of slightly panicked whimpers, did Roux halt the supernatural demonstration.

'There's no need for all the theatrics. I already know what you are.' The vampire chided.

After a few moments, Rebekah rose from her seat and made her way out of the living area. Roux followed and within minutes the pair were stood sentinel over the bassinet, watching the miracle baby girl drift into sleep.

'Could you do it?' Rebekah whispered finally.

Roux gave a nod, but was unsure as to whether it had been seen, 'Not only that…' came the cryptic reply, causing the vampire to finally remove her gaze from the baby and fix her impromptu roommate with searching and questioning eyes.

Roux reached out a hand, stroked the baby's cheek, but withdrew swiftly when she threatened to stir.

'I can hide her _forever_. I can make sure that no one will _ever_ be able to find her.'


	3. What You Give

**Disclaimer:** _I still don't own the originals or any of the canon characters I may use/mention in this fic. I wish I did, but oh well..._

_**Another Chapter already? Ok, so this fandom obviously agrees with me. Anyway, another relatively short one here, but I promise it will get better from the next chapter, really. For now though, at least you have something to read, right?**_

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><p><span><strong>Chapter Three: What You Give<strong>

Rebekah had stopped long and thought hard.

She had weighed up the options, made a mental list of pros and cons, spent hours pacing the rooms of her apartment.

In the end, she couldn't do it. In the end, it was the thought of Klaus' vengeance that sobered her. He had been prepared to kill her in that graveyard, his grip on the White Oak Stake so tight it drained the colour from his fingers. And she was certain that if she made any decisions resulting in pain or suffering for Hope, it would not be the quick death of the stake through her heart. No, he would make her suffer, maybe for years, centuries even. Maybe he would rend the flesh from her bones, piece by piece, heal her and repeat the torture. Maybe he would encase her in an inescapable casket and throw her into an ocean, forced to endure an eternity of death and drowning, death and drowning. That was how _she_ would do it. And that would be exactly what she would deserve.

Despite Roux's protestations, she had done as Rebekah asked and cast the cloaking spell over the baby. As the vampiress understood it, Roux's magic did not manifest as that of witches and there was a lot less chanting and spilling of bodily fluids. In fact, the simplicity of it all had surprised the vampire. So much so, that she was half-convinced it hadn't worked at all.

'That's it?' she asked incredulously as Roux removed her hands from the sleeping child and folded her arms.

'That's it.' Roux smiled smugly, striding from the room.

Rebekah spared Hope a cautionary parting glance, before following Roux into the kitchen.

'How can that be it? Are you sure she's safe?'

Roux heaved a sigh, shook her head, 'And here I was thinking you trusted me…' She offered in mock defeat, her heart sinking a little when Rebekah didn't argue the point. She pivoted, turned her back on the vampire and reached for the refrigerator door. Upon opening it, she found very little, but made an elaborate pantomime of rifling around in the drawers nevertheless.

'She's safe.' She called back over her shoulder, 'At least for the time being.'

'How long exactly?' Rebekah demanded, an unwelcome tremor in her words.

Roux responded by turning to her abruptly, a frown etched into her features. The fridge door slammed shut behind her.

The vampiress tensed, readying for impending attack. She had done it now; she had angered Roux with her mistrust and now she would attack her and take the baby for herself, use Hope as leverage in some convoluted plot for power.

Instead the woman before her laughed, approached, placated her with a hand on her shoulder.

'Rebekah, Rebekah, Rebekah. Have I ever given you reason not to trust me?'

The vampire gave a shake of her head, knowing that this was the expected answer.

'Right. So, believe me when I tell you that Hope is safe. The cloak will work against the magic available to witches, vampire bloodlust and anything else you can possibly imagine. Even if a starved werewolf on the eve of a full moon were standing where you are now, they wouldn't even be able to smell her.'

Roux dropped the hand from Rebekah's shoulder and crossed to the doorway. 'The magic will fade eventually, but short of doing the one thing that you seem dead set against, that is the best I can do for her.'

Rebekah heaved a sigh, placed a hand against her forehead and closed her eyes for a moment as if she was deep in thought. Upon opening them again she gave a nod.

'I know, Roux. I'm sorry I doubted you. Thank you.'

The young woman's sickly sweet smile returned and she spared Rebekah a nod in gratitude.

'That's better.' Roux mused, before pushing away from the door frame and making her way to the front door. 'That's me done here then.' She chimed, shrugging on her long black leather trench coat and tying it neatly at the waist. The coat was perhaps a little too long for her petite frame, but she loved it nonetheless and wasn't about to get rid of it for such a trivial matter.

Rebekah appeared around the corner, just as Roux's fingers curled around the handle.

'Where are you going?' the vampire probed, earning herself a somewhat sarcastic remark.

'I do have a life outside of this apartment, you know.'

The front door swung inwards, slowed somewhat by the thick carpeting beneath, but before stepping through, Roux turned back to Rebekah, took a few steps towards her and folded her into a fond embrace.

'Don't worry, I'll be back before it wears off. She'll be safe, I promise.'

The vampiress gave a nod and this was seemingly satisfactory since Roux loosed her grip and stepped out into the hallway beyond. Rebekah watched after the young woman until she disappeared through the double doors leading to the staircase at the end of the corridor.

Closing the door behind her, Rebekah allowed herself a calming breath and then made her way back into the bedroom, to watch over the sleeping infant.


	4. Strange, Strange Creatures

**Disclaimer: **_I do not own the originals or any of the canon characters I may use or mention in this fic. Consider yourself disclaimed._

_**The fourth chapter of this fic is here. And yet it still has no reviews...Is it really that bad? **_

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><p><strong><span>Chapter Four: Strange, Strange Creatures<span>.**

New Orleans was not what Roux had imagined. There were no street parties, no bands playing to raucous crowds and no one who looked even the slightest bit carefree and merry. She had expected all these things and more and all-at-once felt cheated by the reality.

She gave the place the benefit of the doubt (after all, though it was dark, it was still early) and took a breath, anticipating aromatic currents of sweet pastries and salty stewed meats. Instead, there was only a slightly musty floral note that seemed to float down to her from a well-stocked window box across the street. She paused a moment, listening for the trill of trumpets and the pulse of the French quarter in timpani, brass and strings. Alas, there was only the murmur of a few passers-by, the screech of fighting cats in the distance and the drone of car engines from a few streets over.

There was also no crowd comraderie. In fact, the few people that there were still out seemed to be actively avoiding one another, even so pre-occupied with their miserable little lives to notice that the young woman had stopped in the middle of the road with a look of bewilderment upon her face. She did earn herself a dubious glance from a young man clutching a couple of grocery bags, but that was it. She may as well have been invisible.

With a deflating sigh, Roux turned a searching gaze upwards to the many bracketed swinging signs denoting shops, restaurants and bars. It was a bar she was searching for and she settled on one called '_Rousseau's_', pushing her way through the glass panelled door only to be halted by a taught mass of grey polyester. Looking up, she discovered the stoic countenance of a man who might have been the resident bouncer of the place.

Roux offered something of a half-hearted apology and made to pass him. He stood in her way and placed a hand on her shoulder as she attempted to squeeze through the tiny gap that had been afforded her. Roux bristled and she felt her fingers begin to itch, anxious for the tang of his blood on her skin. She shrugged him off and tried again, but still he remained in her path. She was about to protest with a physical demonstration, but was taken aback by the appearance of a thin straight-haired woman in a suit similar to that of the impromptu doorman. At first, she regarded Roux with curiosity, before inwardly deciding her presence was a hindrance, at which point her attitude turned to indignation.

'We're not open this evening.' She started curtly, 'Didn't you see the sign?'

Roux shook her head, affected a tone of mock innocence, 'No, I didn't…But you know, that may have been because 'lard ass' here was in the way.'

The woman narrowed eyes at her, opening her mouth to speak. There were a few moments of silence during which Roux found herself excited at the prospect of the curt woman's comeback. There was one more disappointment in store for Roux, however; the woman, instead, pushed past her with an agitated grunt and strode off down the street, leaving Roux with only the bouncer and the semi-silent street for company.

'I suppose that's just as well.' Roux began, treating the man to her best in sardonic smiles and (unsurprisingly) receiving no response. She pivoted, started down the street in the opposite direction to the offhand brunette, 'Business before pleasure, anyway.'

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><p>Elijah didn't know what had compelled him to visit the nursery. He hadn't been searching for anything. Nor had he heard any out of place noises that warranted further investigation. He had merely seen the open door and entered.<p>

Had he wondered at the strangeness of the opened door? Had he thought he might find Hayley within?

Whatever it was that had bid him step over the threshold, it had fast been forgotten.

'_Strange…'_ Came an inward melancholy musing, _'…how the sight of an empty crib can do that to you.'_

The vampire left the undisturbed cot for the book case, littered with hand-painted wooden toys and stacked with beautifully illustrated picture books and fairy tales. He thought on the future of such things; would they all be packed up and sent to Rebekah? And if so, who would package them? Would he be the one chosen for the solemn task?

On the face of it, packing the room up and sending it box by box to his little sister did seem a good idea, given that Hope would still have use of the items Niklaus had hoarded for her, but even this simple act could cause devastating problems. Suppose someone suspected something amiss, suspected the child alive, after all…they would merely have to follow the paper trail or, even simpler, the van and they would eventually come upon their prize.

No, it was safest that the room remain untouched. After all, wasn't that what normal people did when they had lost a child? Have it remain untouched and untainted, a monument to a life not yet lived?

Elijah turned with a resigned shake of his head, making his way back over to the door and stepping through. He spared one last glance at the small space and allowed his focus to rest upon the unoccupied rocking chair now bathed in the honey glow of mid-morning, before closing the door with resolve on the blasphemous scene.

No sooner had the latch clicked back into place, did Elijah suddenly sense something amiss. He turned slowly, tensing at the sudden appearance of a strange woman reclining across the lavish king-sized bed. She was lying across it, propped up on one elbow, fingertips teasing at the brocade of the bedding. She seemed not to have registered his presence and was, instead, enraptured in whatever her fingers were tracing. Then, with no warning her eyelids flicked upwards and expectant green eyes locked with Elijah's own dark orbs.

The vampire narrowed his eyes in scrutiny and moved slowly away from the door so that he was effectively blocking the only exit from the chamber. All the while, the strange girl's focus was trained on him, unabashed and unwavering. She allowed her lips to curve upwards into a smile, but demonstrated no further prelude to any explanation as to who she was or why she was lounging, fully clothed, across the bedstead.

Ultimately, the original vampire gave in to his curiosity.

'Can I perhaps help you with something?' he asked, offering a smile that was designed to appear receptive yet assertive.

The young woman deigned to sit up at this, brushed a non-existent strand of hair from her face, and arranged herself gracefully into a cross-legged position. She slouched forwards a little and rested her elbows on her knees.

'No.' she replied spritely with a shrug, as if Elijah should have known this all along, 'But I can help you.'

The vampire gave a disbelieving twitch of his head. He found himself tensing subconsciously at the strange woman's remark and wondering who she was exactly. Was she something to do with Niklaus? Had he brought her here as part of a plan to reclaim the French Quarter once and for all?

Whoever she was, he reminded himself that the originals now had enemies everywhere and that trusting this woman would most likely result in pain and suffering for him and his family. No, Elijah would be careful to make sure the mistakes of the past would not be repeated. It was clear that the only ones who could be completely trusted were Hayley, Klaus, Rebekah (elsewhere, though she was), himself and possibly Marcellus (that was, until he decided he was the one who should be in charge, of course).

Everyone else was an enemy until proven otherwise.

'I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name.' He averred, allowing his smile to widen a little.

The woman responded with a short, almost mocking, laugh which caused his brow to furrow.

'Oh, Elijah. So polite. So formal. Certainly the 'Noble Brother' I've heard so much about.'

The vampire tried again, 'You seem to have me at a disadvantage-'

'Of course you're at a disadvantage.' The woman on the bed interrupted, matter-of-factly, 'Otherwise, I wouldn't be here.'

The smile faded from Elijah's face and he took a steeling breath. Fortunately, the stranger also seemed to grow tired of the charade and ran her fingers through her short rosewood hair.

'Look, Elijah, I'm here for the baby.'

'The baby is dead.' He growled fixing the girl with a murderous glare.

There was another laugh and then the woman affected a reprimanding expression, eyebrows raised, head tilted to the side slightly.

'Now, we both know that is not true.'

She would have said something else then, had it not been for Elijah's hand closing forcefully around her throat. Her eyes widened for a moment as the vampire brought his face closer to hers. They might have been two lovers about to engage in a kiss were it not for the vice like grip on her windpipe and the snarl bubbling in the original vampire's throat.

'Give me one reason not to kill you right this moment.' He threatened, drinking in the young woman's fear and regret. She had crossed the line and there was no going back, no retracing her steps, recanting the statement. She knew too much and he would take immense pleasure in dismembering her for it.

He applied further pressure to her windpipe and savoured the choking sounds she made at the action. Then, she did something he had not anticipated; she shot him a smug, triumphant smile and then vanished from beneath his grasp. His fingers closed around thin air and he surveyed the room in a haze of confusion and panic.

The woman reappeared across the room, leaning nonchalantly against the door jamb, arms folded, cocksure grin on her lips. Elijah found his gaze on her neck and the rapidly fading red mark there.

'One: you couldn't. And two: you shouldn't.' The woman then grimaced a little, 'Your reaction is understandable, though; bad choice of words there. Sorry.'

She then turned her gaze upwards, seemingly deep in thought about the ceiling rose, before turning back to the vampire on the bed somewhat sheepishly.

'What I actually meant when I said I'd come '_for the baby'_ was more like '_on her behalf'._' She paused then, reading Elijah's expression twist from anger and fury to genuine miscomprehension. She gave a slight shake of her head.

'I am a friend of Rebekah's.' She began, crossing the room to the bewildered vampire and taking one of his hands in both of hers. She shook it and fixed him with kindly eyes.

'Pleased to meet you. My name is Roux.'

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><p><strong><em>This chapter was quite fun to write. Hope you liked it too! Reviews are love, by the way. Stories without reviews end up getting deleted by me because they look odd on my profile...you have been warned.<em>**


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